Shall I Save You, Duke? (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 6
At the duke’s words, Lina closed her eyes as if resigned.
‘Right. This might actually be for the best. Rather than staying entangled with that man, leaving the mansion might be better.’
Lina let out a quiet breath. When she thought about it positively, it wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
No—perhaps it was even fortunate.
A faint smile even formed at the corner of her lips once she finished her thoughts.
‘Smiling?’
Belige’s eyebrows twitched as he glanced indifferently at Lina’s face.
The strangely cheerful demeanor of the maid irritated Belige’s nerves.
“Wait.”
That single word, blurted out impulsively, caught Lina’s ankle just as she was about to leave the room.
“Now that I think about it, I might have been too harsh.”
Leaning back in his chair, Belige stared intently at Lina.
“I nearly pinned an unjust accusation on you, too.”
“……Yes?”
“You don’t need to leave the mansion. From now on, work in the annex.”
He found it amusing how the maid’s expression instantly darkened.
“For now, without pay.”
“Ugh… urgh.”
Inside the dark room, a chill hung in the air.
There, sounds of restless tossing and pained groans echoed repeatedly.
The man lying in bed, gripping the sheets tightly, had hands drenched in sweat.
After suffering for a long while, he suddenly jerked upright as if springing off the bed, then gasped for breath like someone who hadn’t breathed in ages.
“Hah… hah…”
Beads of sweat rolled down Belige’s neck like pearls. His body was soaked in cold sweat as if he’d been caught in the rain.
He swept a hand over his face and blinked rapidly, as if trying to recall the dream he’d just had. But not even a trivial memory or the faintest trace remained.
“It’s starting again…”
Low curses slipped from Belige’s lips as he bent his knees and lowered his head.
‘It wasn’t over.’
For some time now, Belige had been tormented nightly by inexplicable nightmares.
The resulting insomnia was difficult enough, but what troubled and frustrated him even more was the emptiness he felt after waking from those dreams.
‘Why can’t I remember anything?’
He didn’t even know what kind of dream he’d had.
All that remained upon waking was a piercing agony, as if iron bars were stabbing his heart, and an unbearable loneliness, as if he were adrift alone on an empty sea.
At first, he thought these nightmares were trauma from fighting in a war at such a young age.
After all, the nightmares had begun during the war and ceased once he returned to the empire, allowing him peaceful sleep again.
‘No, precisely after attending that party.’
It had been a party he’d been forced to attend, pushed by the First Prince. Belige, who’d never intended to enjoy the party anyway, had stepped outside in search of a quiet spot due to his ever-present headache.
And there…
‘…What did I do?’
He was certain he’d met someone, yet only hazy afterimages remained—nothing clear came to mind.
‘That day, I definitely met someone…’
“Urgh—!”
Belige clutched his head again, struck by another splitting headache. The tension that had loosened since the festival began tightening once more.
“So… it really is a curse?”
The divine curse that had dried the blood of Permanence for hundreds of years.
His father had suffered it, and so had his grandfather.
A fragment of long-buried memory surfaced from deep slumber. Blood had already begun seeping from Belige’s gums.
“Do you think I’ll just quietly die like this?”
The men of House Permanence had always seen their health rapidly decline after coming of age, accompanied by inexplicable headaches.
Countless renowned physicians from across the empire had passed through the Permanence ducal household, yet none could cure this mysterious illness.
In that instant, a flood of complex emotions surged over him like waves.
‘This suffering will end with my generation.’
A surge of emotion swirled in his chest, quickly giving way to rising fury.
Crash—.
The vase slipped limply from his hand and smashed against the wall.
With the sound of shattering glass, it broke into pieces so fine its original shape was unrecognizable.
Among the scattered glass shards, crimson petals lay strewn—was it merely an illusion that they looked like blood?
As Belige raised his eyebrows, staring at the broken vase and petals, he felt as if someone whispered in his ear:
That you, too, would shatter into pieces just like that.
“Hello, Uncle Rick.”
Rick, the stableman in charge of the stables, stopped handling hay and waved to greet Lina.
“Oh, Lina! You’re here. I heard the news! Is working in the annex hard?”
“Not at all! I actually prefer the annex—it lets me come see the horses like this.”
Lina replied while stroking a horse eating hay.
‘Susan was whipped and driven out of the mansion, and I’m stuck here penniless, unable to leave…’
Being driven out would’ve been far better. At least then she could start anew somewhere else.
Lina felt conflicted.
‘I should just take care of the horses and try to lift my mood.’
Since childhood, Lina had loved riding horses, and after finishing her duties, she often visited the stables to help Rick.
Initially skeptical of a young maid coming to see the horses, the stable hands were soon amazed by Lina’s practiced touch and frequently asked for her help whenever they were short-staffed.
“The horses have really multiplied!”
“They’ve increased a lot since the master and the knights returned. You came just in time—I was overwhelmed managing all these new horses, so I’m glad you’re here.”
“If there’s anything you need me to do, just say so. I’ll help.”
“Thank you. Oh, but stay away from that black horse at the far end. It’s extremely sensitive—get too close and it might kick you with its hind legs.”
Lina looked toward the horse housed in a stall twice as large as the others. Lean yet well-muscled, with glossy black fur, it was clearly a rare and valuable steed.
“It looks like a very precious horse.”
“Oh, don’t even get me started! That horse is killing me lately. It’s so finicky and ill-tempered—managing it is no simple task! The moment anyone approaches, it acts ready to charge—it’s not a horse, it’s a bull, a bull!”
The black horse Rick pointed to kept snorting, seemingly unable to adjust to its sudden change in environment.
“It throws tantrums whenever a stranger tries to touch it. Since it arrived, we’ve barely managed to feed it, let alone exercise it! At this rate, it’ll gain weight or fall ill—and that’d be disastrous… I’ve already told the steward, but… ugh.”
Horses are typically fed about 0.2 percent of their body weight in fodder per day.
Feeding it this amount without exercise was dangerously harmful to a creature evolved purely for running.
“What’s this one’s name?”
“They call him Thunder.”
Lina met Thunder’s eyes and slowly, cautiously approached him.
“Thunder.”
“Lina! Be careful…”
Rick reached out to stop her, but seeing Lina press a finger to her lips in a silent gesture, he closed his mouth.
“Good boy, Thunder?”
Lina gently extended her hand toward him. Thunder, who had been snorting excitedly, gradually calmed and quietly accepted her touch.
“There we go—good boy.”
Rick clicked his tongue, watching Thunder accept Lina’s caress as meekly as a docile lamb.
Whenever they approached, the horse had always seemed ready to kick them with its hind legs—but now, not only did it not reject Lina’s touch, it seemed to enjoy it.
“Seriously, Lina—what did you do? How did such a wild horse become so gentle all of a sudden? And how can a young girl like you handle horses so well?”
“I told you before—I grew up alongside horses under my father, who was a coachman.”
“And here I am, also a coachman… Huh… well.”
Hearing Rick’s words, Lina simply offered a gentle smile. Truthfully, being a coachman’s daughter made this skill nothing special.
After all, if a commoner girl with no usual access to horses handled them this well, she’d surely draw unwanted suspicion.
Lina subtly cast a calming spell from her fingertips while also making her scent feel familiar to the horse.
‘He was probably just sensitive from failing to adjust to this unfamiliar environment.’
“Would it be alright if I took him for a walk?”
“I’d be grateful! He’s probably itching to move! Go ahead and take him!”
Lina took Thunder’s reins and led him to the open area behind the stables.
Having emerged from the cramped stable after so long, even Thunder seemed in good spirits—the sound of his hooves following Lina was remarkably cheerful.
When Lina released the reins, Thunder began darting around excitedly.
‘He’s this happy, huh?’
After running about wildly, Thunder approached Lina, who was smiling.
He circled her several times, then tugged at her sleeve with his mouth and lowered his front legs, bowing his body low.
“What? Are you telling me to get on?”
“Prrr.”
It was as if he were answering her. Walking the horse was fine, but a commoner riding a noble’s horse was strictly forbidden.
“No, Thunder. I can’t ride you.”
But when Thunder tugged her sleeve again with a soft “prrr,” her resolve began to waver—after all, she’d always loved riding horses.
“What should I do? I really want to ride…”
Lina glanced around, checking if anyone was nearby.
“No other horses are out for walks right now, and we’re a bit far from the stables… Just a quick ride should be fine, right?”
After a moment’s hesitation, she made up her mind and swung herself onto Thunder’s back.
“Then… let’s go?”
With a smooth motion, Lina mounted the horse and gently urged him into a careful trot.
The cool wind brushing past her face playfully tousled her hair.
Feeling the horse’s rhythm through her body and catching the faint scent of earth at her nose, her mood lifted, and she gradually increased their speed.
‘This feels wonderful…’
Riding at full gallop seemed to sweep away every worry and stray thought from her mind. It was a feeling of freedom she hadn’t experienced in ages.
Even among noble ladies, few were permitted to ride—equestrianism was hardly common for women.
Thus, Lina, a commoner, riding a horse was bound to draw attention.
She’d been burdened by too many worries these past few days. Though she’d ultimately succumbed to temptation and ridden anyway, being caught like this would bring nothing good.
Quickly regaining her senses, she gradually slowed the horse and dismounted.
“Thank you, Thunder. That was so much fun.”
Lina smiled softly as she stroked Thunder and thanked him. Thunder closed his eyes and nuzzled his face against her hand.
She then led the horse back toward the stables. Her steps were as light as Thunder’s, buoyed by the rare sense of freedom.
“Finished your walk, I see?”
At least, that’s how it was—until a voice as sharp as winter frost spoke from beside her.
When yandere male lead believes she loves him — but she never did
“How dare you!”
“How dare you make me love you, only to cast me aside as nothing more than a friend?!?
“I will never accept that.”
“I will never let you return to him.”
“Even if I have to burn myself to ashes.”
“Even if I must shatter my purity, my dignity, my very soul.”
“I will never let you escape me!”
This was the first novel that introduced me to the matriarchal genre. I’ve read it three times already!
At first, the male lead despised the female lead. Later, he misunderstood that she liked him, so he condescendingly and reluctantly reciprocated her feelings.
Then, he suddenly discovered that she was kind to everyone in the same way, and there was already someone she cherished in her heart, and that person was not him.
The male lead couldn’t believe it, he became angry and crazy. He was determined to capture her body and heart by any means necessary.
Synopsis:
Want to see how a green tea bitch male lead falls in love with the female lead?
Want to see how he flirtatiously pursues the female lead?
Want to see how he gets slapped in the face repeatedly?
The male lead is a green tea bitch, a poisonous lotus, jealous, ruthless, unscrupulous, with a venomous heart, and he’s also a delusional maniac.
The female lead is righteous, positive energy-filled, kind, a holy mother.
Let’s see how two people with extreme personalities come together~
_____
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MANGA DISCUSSION
2 Comments
Chapter Comments (56)
“Even if she wasn’t, it was undeniable that his pain briefly disappeared whenever he touched her”
Yeah, i guess they are fated lovers
duke having ideas now,you cant escape anymore lina
“But her face had gone pale—she’d unintentionally assaulted the duke.”
No girl, he did!!!
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Blairwoods
He didn’t remember her but got nightmares from their night?
debban23
another punishment awaiting for you lina,cant catch a break